CHEROKEEHome | Origin | Religion and Mythology | Art | Language | Politics | Family Religion and Mythology
Cherokee myth speaks of the Earth as a great island floating in the sea, held in place by four great cords placed at the four directions and attached to the sky vault, itself made of solid rock. When the Earth grows old and is worn out its cords will break so allowing the Earth to retire to the deep. Our world was first formed when a Water-Beetle brought some mud to the surface of the sea, at which point it grew and became the Earth. The animals, who until that time lived above the sky vault, came and made their homes on the Earth...once it was dry enough; in time humans would join them.
The Cherokee believed the world to have been created by a number of beneficent beings from an upper world; a similar belief is found among the Sioux people in the form of Wakan Tanka. The Sun and the Moon, having been created by these beings, were left to finish and rule the world, and in turn, were both adored as the Creator. Also, the word that translates as the "great Apportioner" in the origin of strawberries myth, and which he identifies with the Sun, has been said by the Cherokee scholars Jack and Anna Kilpatrick to be used most commonly to designate the "Supreme Being: The Provider"; the identity of the Supreme with the sun is said to be in error, which assertion is supported by Payne's account above which states that Sun and Moon were created.
A notable feature of Cherokee belief is the use of kinship terms in explanations of natural phenomena. The Sun and Moon, for example, are said to be sister and brother respectively, whilst humans are designated as the Sun's grandchildren and the younger brothers of the Moon. Also, the thunder is known in myth as the Little Men. These are the two sons of Kanati (the Hunter) and Selu (corn); "...when they talk to each other we hear low rolling thunder in the west." In Cherokee myth there exists little difference between human beings and animals, and like humans the animals are organized into tribes with chiefs, townhouses and councils, and both are destined for the same afterlife in the Darkening land in the west. At one time humans and animals lived in harmony, but then humans began to kill the animals for food and showed them no respect. So the animals made war on humans and inflicted diseases upon them; the plants, however, were friends of humankind and gave them medicines.
According to Cherokee tradition, all tribal dances and songs originated in a single event, namely, the slaying and sacrifice of a monster called Stone Coat or the Stone Man (Nun'yunu'wi), so named for his "skin of solid rock". As Stone Coat burned in the fire made for him by the people, there issued forth from him songs, a gift to the people to aid them in all walks of life. These songs were to be learned and passed on from generation to generation. The songs were used at social gatherings, for success in hunting and warfare, and as medicine for all kinds of sickness. The Eastern Cherokee believed that the animal killed by the hunter following the use of a chant would come to life again, so preventing the decline of game.
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Religion and Mythology
Cherokee myth speaks of the Earth as a great island floating in the sea, held in place by four great cords placed at the four directions and attached to the sky vault, itself made of solid rock. When the Earth grows old and is worn out its cords will break so allowing the Earth to retire to the deep. Our world was first formed when a Water-Beetle brought some mud to the surface of the sea, at which point it grew and became the Earth. The animals, who until that time lived above the sky vault, came and made their homes on the Earth...once it was dry enough; in time humans would join them.
The Cherokee believed the world to have been created by a number of beneficent beings from an upper world; a similar belief is found among the Sioux people in the form of Wakan Tanka. The Sun and the Moon, having been created by these beings, were left to finish and rule the world, and in turn, were both adored as the Creator. Also, the word that translates as the "great Apportioner" in the origin of strawberries myth, and which he identifies with the Sun, has been said by the Cherokee scholars Jack and Anna Kilpatrick to be used most commonly to designate the "Supreme Being: The Provider"; the identity of the Supreme with the sun is said to be in error, which assertion is supported by Payne's account above which states that Sun and Moon were created.
A notable feature of Cherokee belief is the use of kinship terms in explanations of natural phenomena. The Sun and Moon, for example, are said to be sister and brother respectively, whilst humans are designated as the Sun's grandchildren and the younger brothers of the Moon. Also, the thunder is known in myth as the Little Men. These are the two sons of Kanati (the Hunter) and Selu (corn); "...when they talk to each other we hear low rolling thunder in the west." In Cherokee myth there exists little difference between human beings and animals, and like humans the animals are organized into tribes with chiefs, townhouses and councils, and both are destined for the same afterlife in the Darkening land in the west. At one time humans and animals lived in harmony, but then humans began to kill the animals for food and showed them no respect. So the animals made war on humans and inflicted diseases upon them; the plants, however, were friends of humankind and gave them medicines.
According to Cherokee tradition, all tribal dances and songs originated in a single event, namely, the slaying and sacrifice of a monster called Stone Coat or the Stone Man (Nun'yunu'wi), so named for his "skin of solid rock". As Stone Coat burned in the fire made for him by the people, there issued forth from him songs, a gift to the people to aid them in all walks of life. These songs were to be learned and passed on from generation to generation. The songs were used at social gatherings, for success in hunting and warfare, and as medicine for all kinds of sickness. The Eastern Cherokee believed that the animal killed by the hunter following the use of a chant would come to life again, so preventing the decline of game.